Once in a while, I wonder if Leftists ever bolt upright in bed or, in their more reflective moments, ponder if the policies they promote are really in the best interests of the nation, but are too afraid to speak out. Or if they honestly believe that the things that they push will eventually prove to be sound choices, once the dust has settled, the rubble has been cleared, and the bodies have been shoveled into mass graves. Or are they honestly bent on the wholesale destruction of the country?
I doubt that option #1 is true. I don’t think that, at this stage in the game, anyone on the Left is truly capable of any real self-assessment. I am not saying that it cannot happen. Dr. Naomi Wolf and Georgia legislator Mesha Mainor are two excellent examples of thoughtful people who could no longer stand the sight of all of those emperors parading around in their birthday suits and who took a stand against the madness. But by and large, the mantra is still strong in most Leftists. I would like to think that option #3 is also off the table, but the behavior of our social, economic, and cultural overlords would seem to indicate that at least some of them see total destruction as viable. Personally, I think option #2 — that rash, punitive, and dangerous practices are needed to create a truly great nation at some undetermined point in the future — is the strategy of choice for most of them. Or maybe they function from the standpoint that #2 and #3 are all part of the great reawakening and that some heads will need to be knocked together to reach utopia.
Related: Who Wants to Help Me Watch Chicago Commit Suicide?
Something of that order must be on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s mind as he looks at the smoking rubble of Chicago that remains from the Lightfoot administration and tries to figure out what could still be burned down. Hence, his idea to hike property taxes for high-end real estate transactions. The money, hizzoner maintains, is needed to build more homeless shelters. WTTW reports that the increase would not change the real estate transfer tax paid by those who buy properties under $1 million. The city currently takes in $3.75 on every $500 in the sale price. But for properties that go for $1 million and up, the buyer would have to cough up $13.25 for every $500. From the report:
Members of the coalition that has been campaigning for the proposal since 2018 finally got their chance to urge the members of the City Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee to allow Chicago voters to decide the fate of the plan during the 2024 election.
“We should have brought Chicago home a long time ago,” Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said.
Supporters of the proposal say the change will help the nearly 66,000 Chicagoans who are unhoused by generating approximately $160 million annually — enough to address the root causes of homelessness by building new permanent housing that offers wraparound services like substance abuse counseling. That will reduce crime and poverty throughout Chicago, supporters said.
Via “The Post Millennial”:
Today at 2 p.m. the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate will meet to address Chicago's crisis of the unhoused.
My administration is committed to Bring Chicago Home, and to building consensus around providing affordable housing to combat homelessness in our city.
— Mayor Brandon Johnson (@ChicagosMayor) July 27, 2023
Back in 1936, bluesman Robert Johnson sang, “C’mon, baby don’t you want to go/back to that same old place, sweet home, Chicago?”
Not at those prices. Then again, I am sure that the supporters of the move think that the only people who will be affected are the uber-rich buying luxury homes in Forest Glen, Lincoln Park, or Beverly. Those execrable one-percenters. And I am sure that the hefty price tag would convince some well-heeled buyers to look elsewhere. However, there are other groups that pay millions for property, namely retailers and manufacturers. Given the propensity for crime and Pritzker’s new laissez-faire approach to the problem, the homeless people camping out at O’Hare, the fact that Lori Lightfoot almost singlehandedly cleaned out the Magnificent Mile, and the illegal immigrant population (which is enraging the residents), why would any retailer or manufacturer want to buy or build in Chicago? Who needs that kind of liability at such an expense?
One would think that Mayor Johnson would have learned something from watching his predecessor. Instead, he has decided to take his cue from Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. A cow who although she looked like a cow clearly identified as a donkey.
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